STTR Phase I: Use of Serious Games to Improve Learning Outcomes in Engineering Programs

这个小企业技术转移第一阶段项目结合了Toolwire公司基于游戏的学习场景开发和商业创业专业知识，以及奥本大学创新技术与工程教育实验室（LITEE）的教学材料开发和评估专业知识。他们共同开发了一个工程设计智能方案的试点版本，其中包括挑战者STS 51-L案例研究的信息。这是在入门工程课程中实施的，评估显示，由于这个试点的游戏性质，学生们认为他们深入了解了主题。这一评估强化了早期研究的结果，即严肃游戏能够提高学生的参与度，对学习产生积极影响，并帮助学生留在工程专业。该项目将设计和开发工程设计、通信、伦理和工业安全四个主题的严肃游戏，用于工程入门课程。这些游戏将在入门工程课程中实施。评估方法将采用预测-教学-过程-产品模型，采用控制班和实验班。数据将根据设计用于测量4-P模型中的变量的结构来收集。这一提议的智力价值在于，它开发、实现和测试了一套游戏，这些游戏除了强调内容之外，还强调发展能力，将现实世界的问题带入课堂，使用游戏技术来调节学习，在游戏中包含评估方法，并为学生提供多次迭代来学习概念，从而改变了入门课程的教学方法。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，它能够直接提供大规模有效的并行工程教育，可扩展到不同级别的班级，使用引人注目的场景，导致深度学习，通过游戏触发大脑化学反应，更好地吸引学生学习，同时随时随地通过安全的网络服务可用。这种高粘性的组合？在实践中主动学习？在先进的技术平台上，实现了更低的交付成本，在劳动力开发中更长期地采用材料，改善用户体验和降低辍学率。这些严肃的游戏为学生和老师在课堂和工作环境中创造了持续的体验式学习循环。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 project combines the game-based learning scenario development and business entrepreneurship expertise of Toolwire Inc., with the instructional material development and evaluation expertise of the Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education (LITEE) at Auburn University. They worked together to develop a pilot version of an engineering design Smart Scenario that included information on the Challenger STS 51-L case study. This was implemented in introductory engineering classes and an evaluation showed that the students perceived that they learned the subject matter deeply due to the gaming nature of this pilot. This evaluation reinforces results from earlier research that shows that serious games have the ability to improve student engagement, positively affect learning, and help retain students in engineering. This project will design and develop serious games in the four topics of engineering design, communications, ethics, and industrial safety for use in introductory engineering classes. These games will be implemented in introductory engineering classes. The evaluation methodology will use a Presage-Pedagogy-Process-Product-model using control and experimental classes. Data will be collected based on constructs designed to measure the variables in the 4-P model. The intellectual merit of this proposal is that it develops, implements, and tests a set of games that emphasize developing capabilities in addition to content, brings real-world problems into classrooms, uses gaming-technologies to mediate learning, includes assessment methodology in the games, and provides students multiple iterations to learn the concepts, thereby changing the approach to both teaching and learning in an introductory course.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is its ability to directly provide massively effective parallel education in engineering by being scalable to different levels of classes, using compelling scenarios that lead to deep learning, triggering brain chemistry through games that better engages students in learning while being available anytime, anywhere through secure, web-based services. This combination of highly engaging ?active learning by doing? on advanced technology platforms achieves lower costs of delivery, greater long-term adoption of material in workforce development, improved user experiences and lower dropout rates. These serious games produce continuous experiential learning cycles for both students and teachers alike in both classroom and workplace contexts.